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Honda Ridgeline

Anyone here have one of the newer ones, or test driven one? I'm due a new car in a few months and the Ridgeline is my current top pick.

From what I've read the Ridgeline is the best truck for folks that don't really need a truck. It's competitors (Canyon, Colorado, & Tacoma) are more capable offroad and can tow heavier loads. But the Ridgeline has the most rear seat volume, gets the best gas mileage, quietest interior, only mid-size truck that'll let a full size sheet of plywood lay flat in the bed, has the cool in-bed trunk, and the uni-body construction and fully independent rear suspension means it handles and rides more like a car than a truck.

I want a pickup for the ability to haul stuff we don't want to put (or can't fit) in a trunk, yardwork supplies, lumber, grill/smoker, etc. The only 'offroading' I'll ever do is driving dirt roads a bit here and there, and I don't own or plan to ever own a boat or camper or anything, so towing capability isn't a concern either. It has a lower ride height, but with a 5ft tall wife I'll take that as an Pro, not a Con.

Need a usable back seat for carrying friends and family, needs to handle a car seat reasonably well.

My current plan is to buy the cheapest 2WD Ridgeline available. It's got all the various features I really want (WAY more than the '03 Civic I'm driving now!). It's a bit cheaper than the V6 Tacoma, and I'll generally pick a Honda/Toyota over a GM for better build quality and reliability. The more expensive versions just add various electronic do-dads, and I actually prefer the 'infotainment center' in the cheaper model - it's got more physical buttons/knobs whereas the fancy version is all touch-screen - even the volume control is a slider on a touch screen, that seems incredibly frustrating.

I was also considering the Honda HRV, little mini-SUV thing. Pretty good interior space, good price, great gas mileage. The Ridgeline is more $$ ($10k sticker), worse gas mileage, but more space and all the versatility of the pickup bed. My daily commute is like 4 miles....so gas mileage isn't a huge concern. Longer trips w/the wife and future kid we've got the Accord that gets 30+mpg nearly every tank.

Re: Honda Ridgeline

I think a Ridgeline is a solid idea. How long until the Accord will be replaced?

I drove an HR-V. Unless you live in an urban environment and need tidier packaging for parking concerns, it strikes me as not enough savings (upfront or fuel economy) over a CR-V to justify being smaller. And its also much worse at being compact than a Fit, while not really having meaningfully more interior space.

"As an homage to the EPOdays of yore- I'd find the world's last remaining pair of 40cm ergonomic drop bars.....i think everyone who ever liked those handlebars in that shape and in that width is either dead of a drug overdose, works in the Schaerbeek mattress factory now and weighs 300 pounds or is Dr. Davey Bruylandts...who for all I know is doing both of those things." - Jerk

Re: Honda Ridgeline

Originally Posted by nahtnoj

I think a Ridgeline is a solid idea. How long until the Accord will be replaced?

I drove an HR-V. Unless you live in an urban environment and need tidier packaging for parking concerns, it strikes me as not enough savings (upfront or fuel economy) over a CR-V to justify being smaller. And its also much worse at being compact than a Fit, while not really having meaningfully more interior space.

The Accord will turn 3 this summer, so I figure we'll get another 10yrs or so out of it. We tend to drive cars for a loooong time, like I said, I'm currently driving an '03 Civic, the car my wife got when she was 16. When we bought the Accord a few years ago for her I traded in my '08 Civic, even though it was newer than the wife's '03 it had a good bit more miles on it.

Re: Honda Ridgeline

At which frequency do you plan to haul dirty stuff.

Looks to me that pickup trucks are really useful to workers who need to haul big/dirty stuff every week day or so but most people would be better served with a nicer, smaller and cheaper car and could just rent/borrow a truck, van or small trailerfor the handful times a year they need the truck bed.

“The 2017 American-Made Index ranks cars based on five factors: assembly location, domestic-parts content, U.S. factory employment adjusted by sales to reflect how many employees each sale supports, engine origin and transmission origin. (Additionally, curb weight is used in the event of a tie, favoring the heavier vehicle.)”

Re: Honda Ridgeline

I fiddled around with one at work. It's a solid vehicle for someone that wants a truck but probably doesn't actually need a truck. It's basically the same thing as a Honda Pilot with just a different body style and will definitely drive like more of a car than anything else on the market.

You can haul stuff in the bed but the towing capacity and general utility is going to be a lot lower than a Chevy Colorado or equivalent small truck.

If you ever want to haul something soft though (soil, mulch, etc.) it's the wrong tool for the job. Once that stuff gets into the bed you're going to have a hard time keeping it out of the trunk.

If you're looking for something with a usable backseat, mid-size truck is the wrong vehicle segment for you. All of the options are going to suck here but there's no harm in going to a dealership to check one out in person.

Regarding vehicle build quality, GM and Ford caught up to Honda and Toyota a long time ago. In general you have to try very hard to purchase a bad car these days. As long as you aren't shopping Fiat-Chrysler or Jaguar Land Rover you're likely good to go.

The biggest thing to think about when making a large change to your daily driver like this is how much you're actually going to use the additional size. Honestly, if you're only doing a couple home improvement projects a year it makes more sense to rent a truck when you need the extra capacity than lug that stuff around full time. If you're primarily looking to haul a growing family then take a good hard look at the mini-van segment. You won't find an easier vehicle to get kids in and out of and the storage volume is massive.

Re: Honda Ridgeline

If you're primarily looking to haul a growing family then take a good hard look at the mini-van segment. You won't find an easier vehicle to get kids in and out of ...

I disagree. We had a pickup when I was a kid and they just threw us in the back and I suspect were mildly disappointed that it wasn't easier to get us out of because we were always still there at the end of the trip.

Re: Honda Ridgeline

Originally Posted by sk_tle

At which frequency do you plan to haul dirty stuff.

Looks to me that pickup trucks are really useful to workers who need to haul big/dirty stuff every week day or so but most people would be better served with a nicer, smaller and cheaper car and could just rent/borrow a truck, van or small trailerfor the handful times a year they need the truck bed.

Re: Honda Ridgeline

Originally Posted by Tom

I disagree. We had a pickup when I was a kid and they just threw us in the back and I suspect were mildly disappointed that it wasn't easier to get us out of because we were always still there at the end of the trip.

How about I amend my statement to "you won't find a vehicle that it's easier to get kids in and out of in a manner that will not get you arrested?"

Re: Honda Ridgeline

Originally Posted by sk_tle

I'm pretty sure it is humour but I don't get it ;-)

Sorry I was sleepy from lunch.

I meant that I think one of the reasons Dustin is probably considering a pickup truck is because of all the off-road riding he does and all of that red mud I've seen in his photos in the weekly ride threads. Probably would rather stack muddy bikes in the bed of the truck than put them inside, and renting a truck every time he went riding might not work well. We might spend a bit more time driving somewhere to go riding than cyclists do in Europe, and even in urban areas, there aren't train systems to get us out into the countryside. I've lived places where every ride began with a 30-45 minute drive in the car, especially when I rode mountain bikes.

Re: Honda Ridgeline

I had a professor in graduate school who had a donkey. He loved that donkey, primarily because it was the only thing more stubborn than he was. He and the donkey used to go hiking in the mountains for days at a time, and he would drive to the trail head with the donkey sitting in the back of his Subaru wagon. Not sure how he got the donkey into the Subaru, because the donkey never did anything he wanted it to do. The donkey was cleaner than the Subaru though.